Norm Brodsky is a veteranentrepreneur. He is laying thegroundwork for big things.

An M.B.A. in the Butcher Shop When notto join the family business; hiring the rightNo. 2; and how to focus on two things—thepresent and future—simultaneously

Dear Norm,
I grew up in a family business that I absolutely love. It’s a
butcher shop, and I’m the fourth generation. For many years,
I tried to work with my dad, but we’re both strong willed, and
I decided to follow my own path and went for my M.B.A.
Today, I work for a large financial institution. About four
years ago, I moved back to Detroit to be closer to my family.
I have been able to get more hands-on with Dad’s business,
and now he wants me to buy it. And I want to buy it. The
problem: I make a nice six-figure income that I can’t afford to
give up. I also like working from home, as I do now. My
dream would be to keep my job but buy out my parents so
they’d have some money to retire on. I’d be in charge, but
I’d let them continue to work part time. (My mom still runs
the office.) The problem is, I have no idea how to value the
business, pay for it, expand it, and run it from home.

You always face the challenge
of keeping your emotions from
getting in the way of making
sound business decisions.
Those emotions are especially
strong when you’re dealing with
family issues. I was worried
that Jeff Evans was about to
make a bad decision based on
his emotional attachment to a
business that has been in his
family for four generations.

My specific concern had todo with Jeff’s idea of trying torun the family business on apart-time basis from his homewhile keeping his full-time jobas an account executive for amajor financial company. Inmy experience, it almost neverworks to run a business likethis one—a multigenerationalmom-and-pop that relies on apersonal touch—on a part-timebasis. If you’re not on the scenefull time, seeing what’s goingon as it happens, you missthings that you should befactoring into your decisionmaking. As a result, you windup making mistakes that youcould have avoided.

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